Adios! 'Top Chef' finally boots one of its weakest

In Wednesday night’s mind-numbingly boring episode of “Top Chef: D.C.,” at least we have one thing to be thankful for: Ding dong, Stephen is gone!

While his antics may have been funny, his food was too funky for any judge to enjoy. We’re wondering how he hung on for so long, but it goes to show that charm can only get you so far in this world.

Angelo thought he had this week’s Quickfire Challenge in the bag. Marcus Samuelsson, winner of season two of “Top Chef Masters,” brought the Ethiopian-flavored challenge to the table, saying that it was all the rage in the U.S. capital. (Oh, D.C., you are so two years ago …)

Angelo, who had worked in an Ethiopian restaurant, thought he had this one in the bag, especially since Samuelsson joked that the normally Asian-influenced chef might have grown up in Ethiopia from the taste of his dish. Angelo of course lapped up all the praise.

But it was Tiffany who stood victorious with her beef goulash with poached egg, currants, peppers and yogurt. Tiffany, we are on to you. Stop saying that you just throw everything together at the last minute. Your food is starting to rank better than everyone else’s, and your fake modesty is starting to get on our nerves.

The Elimination Challenge had the chefs going all around the world to serve diplomats their native foods. Angelo, Ed and Kenny went the Asian route with Japan, China and Thailand respectively, hoping to play to their strengths. We rooted for Kenny, since he has possibly the saddest life story of any “Top Chef” contestant ever. Not only did his first wife die, he had to raise his daughter alone AND he survived cancer!

While Alex, who was cooking a Spanish dish, ran around the kitchen like a headless chicken, falling and smacking into Ed’s work station (serves him right for stealing Ed’s pea puree last week!), Ed feverishly labeled all his containers with his name so no one would ever make the mistake of stealing his dish again. “Make sure it says Ed all over it,” he said to Kelly. If it were us, we would be putting alarms on all our dishes.

Alas, labeling didn’t help Ed as he found himself on the bottom this week along side Alex. Guest judge Jose Andres had some harsh words to say to Alex. “When I saw the flag of my country, I thought, no matter what, I’m going to enjoy this,” he said. “It was like a little nightmare.” Ouch!

Tiffany won double victories this week with her Mexican-influenced chicken tamales with queso fresco and tomatillo sauce. Her simple food seems to be outshining the rest, showing that knowing the basics matters when you are a cheftestant. She said she was going to use the $10,000 prize for her upcoming wedding to her fiancé ... Ed. (Just kidding, but not really.)

Sent home this week was Stephen, who earlier in the episode drunkenly peed on himself thanks to some grade-school hijinks courtesy of Angelo saran-wrapping the toilet. (Yeah, it’s rather immature, but with the catfights and the food stealing, what can you expect from this season of “Top Chef”?)

Stephen's Brazilian dish featured overcooked rice that ultimately became his downfall. Rice! Seriously? Has he heard of a rice cooker? But overall, his flank steak in chimichurri sauce with black beans and rice just didn’t appeal to anyone.

With Stephen gone, we’re just counting down until the rest of them get sent home.